During September 1996 a growing number
of reports testified to human rights abuses against Zairean Tutsis, known
as Banyamulenge, by the army and local people in and around Uvira in South
Kivu, Zaire. It soon became clear that at the same time a conflict
between the Banyamulenge and the army was taking place, and as refugees
began to arrive in Rwanda and Burundi, the Governments of Zaire and Rwanda
traded accusations over responsibilities for the escalating crisis. As
tensions between the two countries mounted, mortar fire was exchanged between
Bukavu, Zaire and Cyangugu in Rwanda over several days.

This briefing describes developments
in September and seeks to put them in their historical context. It
gives an account of the immigration of Banyamulenge into Zaire, examines
their claims to Zairean nationality and describes how they have been stripped
of their nationality and targetted by the local authorities, army and local
people since April 1995. Drawing parallels between this crisis and
developments in Masisi and Rutshuru over the past year, it examines the
accusations of both Zaire and Rwanda, as well as the humanitarian and regional
implications of the crisis.

DEVELOPMENTS DURING SEPTEMBER 1996

On 9 September local people in Uvira
town mounted a demonstration against Banyamulenge, declaring Uvira a 'ville
morte', calling on the 'foreigners' to leave the country and attacking
their homes and property. The demonstration followed a weekend in
which soldiers from the Zairean Army had broken into several religious
establishments in the town, arresting local church members and missionaries
and seizing vehicles, documents and communications equipment. The
events prompted the German arm of Caritas to announce it had suspended
its activities in the town.

Reports soon emerged that during the
weekend of 6 - 8 September, five Banyamulenge had been killed by Zairean
soldiers. One man, Bolingo Karema, was allegedly beaten and stoned
to death in Uvira town, while four others were killed in surrounding villages.
The offices of a local Banyamulenge NGO, Groupe Milima, had allegedly
been looted by soldiers, while its director, Muller Ruhimbika, was in hiding
after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Mr Ruhimbika had
played a prominent role in drawing attention to the situation in Uvira
during 1995 and the first half of 1996 (see the following section), and
is currently living in exile.

Over subsequent days the army sought
out Banyamulenge, arresting men while allowing women and children to go
free. The arrests were reportedly carried out at the instruction
of the District Commissioner of Uvira, Shweka Mutabazi. Amnesty International
singled Mr Mutabazi out for criticism, citing reports that he had encouraged
the takeover of Tutsi property and authorized the enrolment of youths into
the armed forces to fight the 'Tutsi armed group'. Amnesty also undertook
to investigate reports that more than 35 Banyamulenge had been 'extrajudicially
executed' by the Zairean authorities and more than 50 others 'disappeared'
at the start of the month.(1)

Reports of fighting between Banyamulenge
militia and Zairean soldiers also began to emerge, with three soldiers
reported killed during the week beginning 9 September. The Zairean
Army declared the Uvira area a 'military zone' and was reported to be reinforcing
its presence with troops from Goma, Bukavu, Shaba and Kinshasa. On
13 September the Zairean Government accused Rwanda of having enrolled 3,000
Banyamulenge in its army and of training and infiltrating them to destabilize
eastern Zaire, with Burundi providing them with rear bases. Both
Governments categorically rejected the charges.

At the same time Banyamulenge, some of
whom had been held in detention, were refouled or fled the country and
began entering Rwanda and Burundi. Several hundred refugees were
reported as having reached Cyangugu in Rwanda and others as having gone
to Cibitoke and Bubanza provinces in Burundi. At the end of the month
UNHCR estimates put the number of recent Banyamulenge arrivals at over
500 in Rwanda and over 400 in Burundi. Of this number 535 people
had been 'refouled' by the Zairean authorities and the rest had left Zaire
spontaneously.

During the weekend of 14 and 15 September
Zairean television reported accusations by the authorities that the UNHCR
and IOM (International Organisation of Migration) had been assisting armed
groups to infiltrate Zaire from Rwanda and Burundi with the aim of destabilizing
Kivu. Following these accusations two UNHCR staff were beaten up
by Zairean soldiers. On 17 September the claims were dismissed by
the UN Secretary-General, as being 'completely unfounded'. The Secretary-General
subsequently sent Ibrahima Fall as a UN Special Envoy to Zaire to seek
clarification on the allegations. The Zairean authorities, meanwhile,
confirmed that the activities of IOM throughout Zaire had been suspended.

On Sunday 22 September the growing tension
between Rwanda and Zaire manifested itself in an exchange of mortar fire
between the two countries. This was repeated during the following
two days, killing one Zairean and injuring five others. It also prompted
the United Nations to relocate 23 'non-essential' expatriate aid agency
personnel to Nairobi and the International Federation of the Red Cross
to evacuate three of its delegates, after two shells landed in the garden
of a hotel where IFRCS staff had been staying.

Rwanda and Zaire accused each other of
having started the exchanges of fire. On 23 September the Government
of Rwanda released a statement detailing its version of events. It
accused the Government of Zaire of targetting Kabembe town in Cyangugu
prefecture with automatic weapons fire and artillery shelling between 6pm
and 11pm on 22 September. These attacks were said to have caused
neither injuries nor material damage.

The Rwandan Government linked this alleged
'act of aggression' with an attack in mid-September on the prison in the
neighbouring commune of Gishoma, in which a group of infiltrators had sought
to free prisoners. According to the statement, the RPA 'repulsed
the attackers, who fled under cover of automatic weapons fire from the
Panzi camp in Zairean territory.'(2) The dispute over who had started the
attacks continued, however, although a ceasefire was agreed on 25 September.
Zaire alleged that Rwanda broke the ceasefire on 26 and 29 September,
a claim denied by Rwanda.

At the same time a Banyamulenge spokesman
in exile reported that on 22 September the Zairean authorities had executed
40 Banyamulenge being held in detention. They had been arrested by
the authorities the previous week at Baraka in Fizi zone. The summary
executions were said to have been in retaliation for the killings of Zairean
soldiers by Banyamulenge militia. Independent confirmation of this
incident has yet to be obtained.

On 22 September the Zairean authorities
also repeated allegations that soldiers were infiltrating into Kivu from
Rwanda and Burundi in order to support the Banyamulenge militia. Government
spokesman Oscar Lugendo was quoted in the press as saying that Zairean
troops killed three 'Rwandan' soldiers and captured five others at Kiringye
in Uvira region on 31 August. He claimed that the infiltrators were
being commanded by Banyamulenge who had been officers in the Zairean Army
but had gone to Rwanda after the victory of the RPA in July 1994. (3)
The authorities said the soldiers had infiltrated Uvira via Cyangugu in
Rwanda and Cibitoke in Burundi.

BACKGROUND

Different historians give different dates
for the migrations of Tutsi pastoralists from the historic kingdom of Rwanda
to what is now Zaire. All of the estimates, however, date the migrations
between the 16th and 19th centuries (4). The atlas of the Republic
of Zaire produced by Jeune Afrique in 1978 provides a map showing the routes
of the major historical population movements into and within what is now
Zaire, and dates the movement of pastoralists from Rwanda into Kivu between
the 17th and 18th centuries. This was part of the migration which
also brought Rwandan Tutsis to Masisi and Rutshuru zones in what is now
North Kivu.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur
on human rights in Zaire states with confidence that 'ever since 1797,
under the rule of Yuhi IV Gahindiro, Rwandan Tutsis have emigrated to the
Congo, settling in Kakamba, in the plain of Ruzizi and in the higher regions
(Mulenge Hills), because of the climate and to feed their cattle.' (5)

These Tutsis established their first
settlement at Mulenge and became known as Banyamulenge (people of Mulenge).
They settled in Uvira, Mwenga and Fizi zones, where they are to be
found to this day (although there are now Banyamulenge living further south,
in Shaba, and in major towns around the country). Establishing their
own settlements they lived side-by-side with indigenous Bantu ethnic groups
- the Babembe, Bafulero, Banyindu, Barega, Barundi and Bashi. They
speak a variant of Kinyarwanda (the language of Rwanda), recognized as
a separate dialect by linguistic authorities (6). Today estimates
of their number range from 250,000 to 400,000 people, roughly comparable
with other ethnic groups in the area (the Barega have been estimated at
400,000, the Babembe at 252,000 and the Bafulero at 275,000).(7)

The Banyamulenge lived in relative peace
and harmony with their neighbours for most of this century. It was
not until the Mulele rebellion in Kivu in 1964 that Banyamulenge found
themselves in opposition to other local people. The Mulelists, espousing
a variant of communist philosophy in which property, land and cattle were
to be shared among local people, drew support from other ethnic groups
in South Kivu. The Banyamulenge, however, did not share their neighbour's
enthusiasm for these goals and helped the then Congolese National Army
to crush the movement in South Kivu. This episode instilled a deep
and lingering resentment against the Banyamulenge within other ethnic groups
in the area.

The Banyamulenge, however, continued
to prosper economically and also succeeded in securing political representation
at both the local and national levels. In 1980 however, Mr Gisaro,
the sole Banyamulenge MP in the Zairean Parliament, died in a car crash.
In 1981 the Zairean Parliament passed new legislation relating to
Zairean nationality. This sought to nullify the 1972 legislation
under which all persons of Rwandese origin who established their residence
in the Kivu province before 1 January 1950 and who had continued to reside
in Zaire were collectively granted Zairean nationality as of 30 June 1961.

Henceforth nationality would be acquired
on an individual basis only and any other mode of acquisition of Zairean
nationality was null and void. In effect, people of Rwandese origin
in Zaire were rendered stateless persons. According to informed legal
opinion, however, the 1981 law was arbitrary and discriminatory and therefore
unlawful under international conventions to which Zaire is a party. If
this analysis is accepted, the Banyamulenge retained a strong claim to
Zairean citizenship.

They were, however, refused permission
to stand as candidates or to vote in the 1982 Parliamentary elections.
Banyamulenge in Mwenga zone protested against the decision by burning
ballot boxes being used in the elections. The same was true for the
1987 Parliamentary elections, when again the Banyamulenge could neither
stand for office nor cast a vote. This time there were protests in
Uvira and Fizi and again ballot boxes were burnt.

The tensions aroused by these disputes
were further exacerbated by the refugee crises of 1993 and 1994, when Hutu
refugees first from Burundi and then from Rwanda, flooded into the area.
Local people are said to identify themselves with Hutus and to hold
Tutsis responsible for heaping the refugee problem upon them through the
coup of October 1993 in Burundi and their struggle for power in Rwanda
after the RPF invasion of 1990. In this analysis the genocide of
1994 was characterized as the culmination of a war rather than the planned
and purposeful extermination of Rwanda's Tutsi minority.

On 28 April 1995 the High Council of
the Transitional Parliament passed a Resolution in order, ostensibly, to
prevent Rwandan and Burundian refugees from acquiring Zairean nationality.
The Resolution followed a visit to Kivu by the Vangu commission of
inquiry, which had been established to look into these questions. The
most surprising aspect of the Resolution was that it treated the Banyamulenge
as recent refugees. The Resolution included a list of people to be
arrested and expelled, the cancellation of any sale or transfer of assets
which benefited 'immigrants who have acquired Zairean nationality fraudulently',
the replacement of existing governors and commanders with new officials,
and the banning of Tutsis from all administrative and other posts. (8)
The Resolution was signed by the Speaker of the Parliament, Anzuluni Bembe
Isilonyonyi, who claims to come from Uvira and have Babembe ancestry.

It wasn't long before the Resolution
was put into action. On 19 September the District Commissioner of
Uvira, Shweka Mutabazi, wrote to the official responsible for urban planning
in Uvira telling him to make a list of the properties and land owned by
Banyamulenge, that all building work by Banyamulenge was to be brought
to a halt and that all abandoned Banyamulenge houses should be identified
and itemized. He also charged the same official with informing the
head of the Banyamulenge community about these developments.

During late 1995 and early 1996 acts
of harrassment as well as evictions of Banyamulenge were an increasingly
common occurence. On November 21 1995 the authors of a petition to
the authorities were detained, shortly after one of their number, Muller
Ruhimbika, had been interviewed by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights
in Zaire, Roberto Garreton. During his January 1996 report Mr Garreton
noted that some Banyamulenge had already been expelled from Zaire while
others were under an expulsion order. The Special Rapporteur also
reported that he had been informed that 'local tribes were arming in readiness
for a struggle against the Banyamulenge, forcing the latter to do the same.'(9)

The immediate precursor to the events
of September was the banning of Groupe Milima, the non-governmental organization
run by Mr Ruhimbika, on 9 August, again at the instigation of the District
Commissioner for Uvira. Groupe Milima, a rural development organization
which had lobbied for the nationality rights of Banyamulenge to be recognized,
was clearly proving to be a thorn in the side for the authorities. The
letter announcing the ban accused Mr Ruhimbika of political lobbying, travelling
without the permission of the authorities and drawing the nationality issue
to the attention of the Carter Centre. It also alleged that Mr Ruhimbika
had been trafficking arms to the Banyamulenge.

CONCLUSION

In many respects recent developments
in Uvira bear an uncanny resemblance to developments in Masisi since November
1995. There too, Zairean Tutsis have been targetted by the local
authorities, army and local people and forced to flee their country. In
the case of Masisi there is substantial evidence that Rwandan Hutu refugees,
in particular members of the interahamwe militia and the former Rwandan
Army, have fuelled the conflict by bringing arms and hatred to an already
volatile situation (10). In the case of Uvira the alleged involvement
of Hutu refugees in targetting the Banyamulenge remains just that - an
allegation. With Masisi as with Uvira, the conflicts have resulted
in mutual recriminations between Zaire and Rwanda.

Yet the obvious difference between the
two conflicts is that in the case of Masisi the Tutsis were forced out
of their country without putting up a fight. This is not proving
to be the case in Uvira, where the Banyamulenge have been arming and preparing
themselves for the current confrontation. As one Banyamulenge spokesman
in exile explained, "They have seen what has happened in Shaba with
the Kasai who were unarmed. They saw what happened to their 'brothers'
in Masisi and Rutshuru, who were defenceless and were killed and evicted.
The Zairean authorities say the Banyamulenge must go. The only
option they had was to get arms. They are saying, 'we're not going
to allow this to happen to us'."

How the conflict will evolve is a matter
of speculation. While reports from the area do support claims that
Rwandan Hutu refugees are assisting the Zairean Army, it is unclear to
what extent local people from other ethnic groups in South Kivu are willing
to take up arms against their neighbours. In the case of Masisi,
it was the involvement of local Hutus in league with refugees and occasionally
the army that really made the position of the Tutsis untenable and forced
them to flee.

What is abundantly clear is that unless
the legitimate claims of the Banyamulenge are recognized and the differences
between Zaire and Rwanda resolved, the region faces yet another escalation
in its crisis of insecurity. This will be unwelcome to the international
community, as it counts the cost of assisting yet more internally displaced
people and refugees. It will be bad for the countries of the region,
whose development can only be hindered by worsening relations and violent
disruption. And it will be a disaster for local people, who will
be condemned to further deaths, displacement and flight from their own
country.